Our little group is growing by leaps and bounds! I am thrilled that this group that started out with just a few of us has started to grow and expand over the past few months. Quite honestly this group has changed my life and that is a fact.
It seems that we love to get together. It does not have to be for a special event like our Lay’s Tasting Party or our Oreo Tasting Party. It can be just getting together for a meal at The Barrel Drive In or going to visit a local business together. We are all always up for a great time.
Recently a few of us were able to get together during the day for a late lunch at The Ladybug Greenhouse Cafe Bakery Wellness Center and Spa in Clear Lake, Iowa. It just happened to be Sara’s birthday (from All in An Iowa Mom’s Day and Travel With Sara) so the day was celebratory in nature which was fabulous. 
The Ladybug Bistro is a cute place with a lot of nooks and crannies to explore. You can check out their Facebook page here and their website here. They offer a lovely lunch menu and for under $10 you can have a filling lunch complete with a salad or soup, sandwich and dessert. (Don’t judge me on the two desserts pictured—I went earlier with my radio pal, Cynthia Tompkins!)
The whole place is just a very interesting place from the items that are everywhere that are for sale to the the outdoor seating to the many different rooms where you can be seated–there are so many things to catch your eye that it takes a long time to take them all in. My favorite things were the totems that featured teapots. I restrained myself—-hard to believe, I know!
There is even a greenhouse where Stillwater Greenhouse had a lot of colorful mums and other plants for sale as well as pumpkins and gourds. One stop shopping at its best! The sad thing is that they will close for the winter this next week BUT will reopen in April 2015 so tuck this away if you are a local and want a fun and different place to enjoy a meal.
The hard thing sometimes is to get the entire group together since we are growing so quickly. I brought a couple of our Flat Friends but totally left several out without realizing it. I had not wanted to “assume” that everyone wanted to be represented in Flat form and so only made a couple that had asked to be there.
The other night a bigger group of the North Iowa Bloggers were able to get together at Applebee’s and since I was “whining” about not being able to go Donna made a FlatBethAnn so I could be there. I felt a part of the festivities and the fun thing was that they were all “Tweeting” and “Instagramming” and ‘Facebooking” the whole time so I quite honestly felt like I was there.
Katy Flint, Mary Hopper, Donna Hup, Joy Brown,Sara Broers, Alicia Schmitt, Laura Cerny,Amy Hild, Jeni Flaa
Are we all the same age? No. Do we all blog about the same thing? No. Do we all drive the same kind of car? No!. (Not sure why that would be important but you never know.) Do we all love social media? YES! Do we all love to meet new people and experience new things? YES! Do we all like to help others grow in confidence and encourage them to do what they dream of doing? YES!
I know that when the time for me to leave North Iowa arrives I will be torn because it will mean leaving this fine group but the great thing is that I will always have them as friends and we will ALWAYS be connected!!! That’s the neat thing about this big ole’ world—it can become quite small at the same time.
Please don’t hesitate to check out each of their blogs and show them some bloggy love. You won’t be disappointed.
All in an Iowa Mom’s Day and Travel with Sara
Do you have a group like that that you connect with? It doesn’t have to be a blogger or writer group —but a group of diverse and interesting people who support one another? I would love to hear about them!
